Direct Enrollment: St. Andrews - St. Andrews University Photo

St. Andrews: The Gateway to Europe

Program Information

Founded in 1413, the University of St Andrews is Scotland’s oldest university, and the third oldest in the English speaking world. The University is located in the mediaeval coastal town of St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. The town, with its close-knit community, is very much our campus with Univers... More

Provider: Direct Enrollment
Location(s): St. Andrews, The United Kingdom
Year Founded:
Website Take me there!

Review By:

Katherine S. (Classical Civilization, Wellesley College) on August 17, 2010

Overall Rating

Personal Information

* Start Date: 2009-09-11
* End Date: 2010-05-28
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The academics were very hands-off and the student was expected to do a lot of independent work. I didn't mind this at all, in fact I believe that I thrived with such expectations.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

There was not much communication between myself and the administration of St. Andrews.

* Housing:

I lived with a mixture of local, foreign and American students. I had a great location, close to campus and the heart of the town (as well as the beach and golf course).

* Food:

It was your average college food, I ate out more often than usual however due to my traveling.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I did a lot of independent traveling, not only throughout Scotland, but throughout Europe. This, along with the friends and experiences I had at St. Andrews made for an amazing year.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

I never had any health issues, but the town/campus at St. Andrews was very safe.

* Home Institution Advising:

How well did Wellesley College prepare and support you for your time abroad?

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? It depends on the week, when I was traveling it was close to $300. When I wasn't it was more like $150.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Although flying is suprisingly cheap, it's the smaller transportation that adds up such as getting to and from airports and to and from cities.

Language

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? None

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Dorm
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Other
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Local Students

A Look Back

* If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program? Yes
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? Any student who enjoys being a college student and doesn't want to lose a year/semester of that experience should look to do a direct enrollment such as St. Andrews. As well, they offer enough free time that traveling almost every weekend is more than possible.
* What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile? It was the best year of my life and I wouldn't change anything! The only thing I regret is since I traveled like a tourist, I experienced Europe in a very touristic manner and not necessarily how a student who studied in a full immersion program would have.

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:

Julius Caesar

Course Department: CL
Instructor: Felix Racine
Instruction Language: English
Comments: I particularly enjoyed this course because of the instructor. The class was entirely discussion based and the required research was very open ended and almost entirely reliant on first hand resources/writers.
Credit Transfer Issues: No.